'sunday drivers' 40mph everywhere

[angelos02]

Just had a weekend away in the countryside and at least half a dozen times got stuck behind people that shouldn't be allowed to drive. Doing 40mph in national speed limit zones & the same in built up 20 mph areas. Note to you Numpties...if there is big line of traffic behind you, you are probably driving dangerously.

I still don't understand why people drive at 40 in NSL zones and then stay at 40 in 30 mph villages. This sort of driving is not about safety. Does anyone recognise that they do this and fancy explaining their motivation?

or having some dick up my arse cos Im doing 30 through the village or 60 on the single carriageway.

But by definition, the minute you are stuck behind someone, you become the dick - you can leave a reasonable gap, but the minute they get home, after they've shampoo'd the "fear" out of the seat, you know they'll be on here in a lather over how you "followed them for 6 miles"....

The problem with drivers who do 40 regardless of the road they are on is usually their lack of awareness of what is going on around them. For example, they've stick at 40 even though they've entered a 30 zone because they've failed to notice the change of speed limit signs, then they've done the same on leaving the 30 zone. If they've failed t to notice basic information such as speed limit signs (which they could have anticipated by the associated changes in the road), the chances are, they are now giving due attention to many many other pieces of information on the road and are inherently unsafe drivers.

You have to be continuously taking in the information around you and reacting to it accordingly. Not knowing the roads is no excuse for not doing this btw (and neither is knowing the roads and then driving pretty much on automation).

Excuse all the typos - Swype thingy on the tablet is playing up!

If anyone can tell me whether I'm being unreasonable or not then I'd be very happy. I frequently come off the M6 southbound at J15 and head towards Eccleshall and onwards towards Newport. This road is nice when the conditions are good but often they're not and it's a quite long, windy/bendy single carriageway road with small villages throughout (with average speed cameras in places so they are adhered to by everyone).

I would prefer to drive at 40/45 for most of the journey but find myself being pushed by cars behind me. For someone apparently classed as a 'fast' driver, I'm a bit about my speed. The road, for the most part, is NSL. This is the only road I feel this way about.

When you're being pushed by the driver behind you and the distance is significant but passing places are few and far between, what do you do? How do I learn to relax about someone driving up my backside and stop feeling guilty for holding them up and stop them potentially making a dangerous (to me and them) move?

I would prefer to drive at 40/45 for most of the journey
Even in good conditions?

Don't know that area, but regardless of your reasons for going at 40/45, there is still no excuse for bumper hugging.

If possible, however you should try to allow them to overtake. Don't brake-test them, it can be dangerous and is red-rag to a bull territory for some. Better to encouraged them to get in front of you (where they will no longer be a danger to you) than sticking on your bumper behind.

Don't know that area, but regardless of your reasons for going at 40/45, there is still no excuse for bumper hugging.

If possible, however you should try to allow them to overtake. Don't brake-test them, it can be dangerous and is red-rag to a bull territory for some. Better to encouraged them to get in front of you (where they will no longer be a danger to you) than sticking on your bumper behind.

bessie, if you're confident you're driving at the right speed for the conditions (don't know this road so I can't comment), then you just have to be zen about it and see their impatience as their problem. It's easy to drive aggressively on a winding road if you're not going to be the person in the hot seat when it turns out there's a cyclist/horse/jogger round the next bend. I think tailgaters probably drive far less aggressively when it's them at the sharp end and indeed many of them don't overtake when they do get the chance because they'd rather you were up front acting as a buffer. You can't feel guilty - you may be saving their/your/someone else's life.

I encounter a lot of bumper huggers. This is not from going slowly - where I live people bumper hug when you're going at 40mph in a 40 zone and at 60 mph NSL. I drive the road a lot and there are not many places it is safe to overtake so I when we get to them I drive closer to the verge to indicate they should pass if they want to. If this is coming into a higher speed limit I'll hold off accelerating to let them pass even though if they weren't there I'd be getting up to speed quicker. If a tailgater decides to pass me in a really inadvisable place (before a notorious blind summit followed by a sharp bend which has seen cars go off the road to avoid a head on collision with just such over takers!) I try to slow down once they are out from behind me to allow them to complete the overtake as quickly as possible to avoid hurting anyone who may be coming the other way.

Those of us who live in the countryside will drive how we see fit. There is, whether you like it or not, no minimum speed limit.
Those of you who live in the cities drive as you see fit, which is pretty bloody appallingly most of the time.
If you are on a weekend away and your blood pressure is affected by how other people drive, I suggest you hire a canal boat, go for a walk, hire a bike, or go paragliding. If all you have to do in your spare time is stress about how fast you can drive, I wonder if you need to relax a little bit more?
If you are very focused on driving as fast as possible, stick to the motorways?

Those of us who live in the countryside will drive how we see fit.

You do indeed.

Most of you tear round the lanes like you're at Silverstone. When I'm in rural areas it's pretty easy to spot the locals! More deaths per RTA to rural locals than those in the cites too...

Right, enough of the sweeping generalisations (yes I know that's what AIBU is based on)

I think you'll find that most people don't drive at 25 with their nose pressed to the windscreen or hurtle round like Lewis Hamilton.

Most competent people drive to the conditions and aren't afraid to (gasp) reach the limit when safe to do so.

If you want to crawl around perfectly safe country lanes because it makes you feel "safe" then carry on, don't moan when you've got a queue of angry people behind you though!!

Not all of us who live in the countryside drive in the same fashion!

On a clear road when you can see sufficiently far enough ahead to be safe, you should always drive at the speed limit.

My particular bug bear is those drivers who fail to use a motorway slip road to match the speed of the prevailing traffic (often 60 or 70 mph). It's downright dangerous to join a motorway at 50 or below.

You know who you are.

Stop it.

Now.

I grew up in the country, a local winding road was avoided and known as the racetrack by locals because OTHER locals, usually boy racers, would literally challenge each other as to who could do it the fastest.
So everyone boasting how all "us fast city drivers" need to chill out because of their "country driving" rage-inducing dawdling can get lost.

It all feels like the child ploy of waving your finger right in front of your siblings face while saying "but I'm not touching you, just ignore it if its bothering you, I'm not doing anything wrong, just ignore it"

My particular bug bear is those drivers who fail to use a motorway slip road to match the speed of the prevailing traffic (often 60 or 70 mph). It's downright dangerous to join a motorway at 50 or below
I've never had a crash but the closest I've been was on a motorway slip road when I was looking over my shoulder to see the traffic and looked back ahead to see that the car in front of me had stopped completely at the end of the slip road!

There was heavy braking and much swearing They entered the motorway from a standing start, stupidly dangerous in any case, let alone in a C1 or whatever it was. I obviously had to follow suit but my car shifts off the line very quickly so fared better. Fucking idiots. I probably should have remembered the number plate and given 101 a ring.

The point is, some people live in the countryside, and some of them drive fast (because it's their work place and they're in a hurry) and some drive slowly (because it might be their kid on a pony or a bike round the next corner, or their dog that's got loose).
Then some of the people on the country roads are tourists or visitors who either want to drive fast (because this bit is not the bit they're interested in visiting) or slowly (because this is the bit they came to see)
As the steaming fuming ball of hypertension behind them, you have no idea whether they are locals or tourists.
But the countryside, whether you like it or not, is a leisure destination, and the lanes are full of people on horses, bikes, backpacking, walking dogs, children splashing in puddles, chickens crossing the road - and that's their charm, and to some extent their purpose, and frankly the fact that they are 60 is ridiculous, they should all be 30 with added advice to slow down, smell the coffee (or the pooh) and take in the scenery.
There is incidentally a special place in hell for all those people both local and visiting who ignore the 30mph limit in (for example) the New Forest and subsequently hit ponies and deer. Just really, if you're in that much of a hurry start earlier. Or go somewhere else.

But the countryside, whether you like it or not, is a leisure destination

Sometimes, the countryside is the route between A and B. Nothing more than that.

No, not nothing more than that.
It may be that to you.
But it doesn't disappear all the people using it legitimately as a place of leisure. Believe me, I'd often prefer it not to be so. Apart from when I'm the one doing the leisuring obvs.
But even if it just a route to someone, they are sharing with someone for whom it is a playground.

But even if it just a route to someone, they are sharing with someone for whom it is a playground

Ah well, it's a trade off between that and my lovely panoramic hill view.....

But the countryside, whether you like it or not, is a leisure destination, and the lanes are full of people on horses, bikes, backpacking, walking dogs, children splashing in puddles, chickens crossing the road - and that's their charm, and to some extent their purpose, and frankly the fact that they are 60 is ridiculous, they should all be 30 with added advice to slow down, smell the coffee (or the pooh) and take in the scenery.

But Joely just because a road runs through the countryside doesn't make it a place of leisure, a playground nor a lane.

I live in Wiltshire. Near me the A4 runs between towns and is a very wide road, good clear sweeping sections of the road with good visibility where doing 30 in fine weather would be ridiculous. If anyone is stupid enough to ride a horse along it or take a stroll along the road you'd need your head looking at.

bessiebumptious2 If you're on about the A519 I've just taken a look at that on google street view. I've taken it from the junction with the A51.

I'm going to be honest with you here. I think there's no reason at all why you can't safely go at the 60mph speed limit on that road. It is wide and straight (even where it bends the most I wouldn't expect you to have to drop below 50) so if you're not confident enough to drive at the posted limit am I right in thinking you're a nervous driver? If so, I'm sure those tailgating you do nothing for your confidence.

You may want to consider taking extra lessons - the institute of advanced motorists offer various courses here: www.iam.org.uk/drivers/motorists-courses

Cities are places of leisure too. Museums, interesting buildings, theatres, parks, etc. You'll find tourists walking at a different speed to people on their way to a meeting.

Collaborate But there's the thing - I'm not by nature a nervous driver at all and as I said earlier, am frequently told I drive fast. I guess it's just this particular road although when first coming off the M6, it's perfectly ok and I'm comfortable with it. I've been driving for 26 accident free years and don't often feel this way.

Further on down from Eccleshall through to Newport is particularly bad, I feel. I'm fine when there's no-one behind me but the minute I get someone following, I feel anxious. Odd, really. I drive an awful lot of miles a year and am perfectly happy driving anywhere - it's just this one road.

Thinking about it, it does have odd camber angles in places so perhaps it's the reaction of my car and the way the suspension handles them.